Chapter 1

Nightal 13 1372 DR, Year of Wild Magic

Hidden in the shadows outside of Silverymoon's gates, Shadimir Deachron and his snow tiger companion Elros, watched as a circle of seven harpies descended from the sky and walked over to the broken down wagon that sat on the snow laced dirt road.

The pale skinned harpies unfolded their long bat-like wings as they moved closer to the wagon, opening their mouths wide, exposing their vampire fangs. From the hiding spot, Elros stood ready to attack.

"Wait for Jepetto and Battle-hammer," Shadimir whispered, scratching the snow tiger's ears.

The undead hunter and his animal friend watched as a stout metal construct emerged from inside the wagon. The metal warrior resembled a red bearded dwarf wearing a two-horned helm. One of the horns was whole, but the other was broken.

"Battle-Hammer attack!" shouted a voice from inside the wagon. The construct drew his sharp war-axe and charged the vampire harpy closest to him and slashed his weapon across her neck, lobbing her head off.

Tightening his cloak around his elven chain armor, Shadimir drew his sword Gabriel and his light mace. Together, he and Elros sprang out of the shadows and attacked the harpies. Shadimir stabbed his bastard sword through the gut of one of the harpy vampires, then slapped his mace into her chest.

The vampire let out a screech and lashed out at Shadimir with her claws. The hunter dodged the harpy's claws, then slashed his blade through the harpy's shoulders, separating her head from her body.

Behind Shadimir, Elros and Battle-hammer cut down two harpies. Battle-hammer's axe swept a vampire's head off of her shoulders, while the snow tiger's claws dug through a vampire's chest, cutting through the heart.

The three remaining harpies flew at Shadimir, swiping their claws at his body. Shadimir growled as two claws ripped through his armor and pierced his skin.

Using his quick reflexes, the silver haired hunter stabbed Gabriel deeply into one vampire's chest, breaking through her heart. He left Gabriel in the vampire's chest, and drew a wooden stake from his belt. On of the other vampires tried to lunge at him, but the hunter spun left, avoiding the attack. He then bent low and shoved the stake deeply into the heart of the harpy vampire.

While Shadimir had killed the second vampire, the last vampire harpy tried to pull Gabriel free from her fallen comrade's body. The moment she grasped the sword's hilt, a white lighting bolt shot up the weapon's pommel and hit the vampire, sending her flying through the air.

When the vampire harpy landed on the cold snowy ground, Shadimir drew another wooden stake from his belt and threw it. Just as the vampire rose to her feet, the stake found it's way into her heart.

As the vampire's body slumped to the ground, Elros walked over and pulled Gabriel free from the vampire's body with his strong teeth. The snow tiger walked over to Shadimir, who gently took the sword from the tiger's jaw..

"Jepetto are you all right?" Shadimir asked, sheathing his sword as the snow began to fall from the night sky, some of it landing in his silver hair.

"My foot was stuck," the grey skinned gnome answered as he stepped out of the wagon and tightened his thick brown cloak over his body. Jepetto smiled as he removed his green lens goggles from over his eyes and asked," Did I miss anything?"

Shadimir shrugged his shoulders. "Not really. At least traders going to Silverymoon won't have to worry about the vampire harpies anymore."

Jepetto nodded as he walked over to his friend. "Yes we'll have to tell Alustriel that we finished the job."

Shadimir smiled as he felt the snowflakes pile on his clothes and his head. "Let's get some tea and warm up first."

Shadimir opened the front door and walked inside his home. With his wife Stephanie, and the twins Andreya and Jacen gone (they had gone to the Spirit Soaring to bring Dalla home for the holidays), Shadimir expected silence and darkness. He was surprised to find a faint light coming from inside of the study.

"Looks like I've got house guests," the undead hunter whispered to Jepetto and Elros, who had just walked though the door. The deep gnome's construct was still outside, pretending to be an oversize lawn ornament.

"Maybe it's Alustriel," Jepetto whispered back as he drew a blue colored wand from his belt.

The undead hunter shook his head as he drew Gabriel from its scabbard. "Alustriel always tells me when she's coming over...well most of the time she does."

Armed with their weapons of choice, Shadimir and Jepetto ran into the study, ready to attack the intruder.

"Wait...please," said a frightened Regis Rumblebelly as he stood on the chair, holding up his mace.

Shadimir and Jepetto shook their heads as they lowered their weapons. "Regis, what brings you here?" the hunter asked, sheathing Gabriel.

Regis Rumblebelly sank back into the comfortable chair, wiping a hand through his brown curly hair. He glanced at Jepetto, who said that he would go make some tea. After the deep gnome left the study, Regis looked back at Shadimir.

"Not much...well, for over a ten-day, strange things have been happened at Mithral Hall. Dwarves have been getting attacked. The guards haven't been quick enough to catch the culprit in the act. I was thinking that you could come and investigate the attacks and maybe find out who the attacker is."

Shadimir crossed his arms and sighed. "I don't know Regis, I just got home from Waterdeep, Stephanie and the children are going to be back soon, and Jepetto and I just finished fighting vampire harpies."

"Well maybe you just need some friendly persuasion," said Regis as he reached into his shirt and pulled out his magical ruby pendant. He didn't want to have to user the ruby's charm ability, but if the magic could get Shadimir to help...

Regis never finished his though, for as soon as he pulled out the ruby pendant, Elros ran into the room and jumped into the air, snatching the pendant from the halfling's fingers. The halfling jumped out of the chair and tried to get his pendant back, but the snow tiger was too quick, leaping away every time the halfling made an attempt to try and grab his pendant.

"Be careful Regis, Elros might swallow it," Shadimir said with a laugh as the snow tiger ran behind him. Regis lunged at Elros once more, but the hunter stopped him. "Okay Regis, I'll go to Mithral Hall and help you."

Regis looked at Shadimir, then glared at the snow tiger. Elros dropped the ruby pendant onto the floor, then walked over to the corner and laid down for a quick nap. In the next second, Jepetto came into the study with three glasses full of tea. The svirfneblin handed Shadimir and Regis their glasses, then drank his own.

"So how do we get to Mithral Hall?" Shadimir asked after taking a drink of tea. "We'll want to get there quickly if we want to catch this attacker."

Regis shrugged. He had arrived in Silverymoon by way of a teleportation spell cast by a wizard back at Mithral Hall. "We could always ask a wizard for a teleportation. Personally I've always admired Alustriel's fiery chariot."

"The chariot," Jepetto said, looking at Shadimir. "We could use Alustriel's chariot to fly to Mithral Hall."

"Do you think she would let us borrow her chariot?" Regis asked.

Shadimir finished his cup of tea and said," Only one way to find out."